


Date Night

by bluebellwriting



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Chubby Reader, F/M, Reader just misses her boyfriend, Reader-Insert, chubby!reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27753043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebellwriting/pseuds/bluebellwriting
Summary: You are a medical officer on the USS Discovery and you haven’t had a date night with your boyfriend in over a month (takes place season 2, post-Obol for Charon)
Relationships: Saru (Star Trek)/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Date Night

You knew something was wrong when Tracey came over to your work station with a sympathetic smile. She was clutching a PADD to her chest and her footsteps were purposeful but lacked their normal sense of urgency. She watched quietly as you healed a cut on Linus’ hand and laughed at a few of the Saurian’s jokes, waiting for you to have a moment alone because she knew how angry you were about to get. 

Once you had sent Linus off with a wave and a warning to be more careful, Tracey wordlessly hands you the PADD and prepares herself for the aftermath.

You met Saru on your first day on the USS Discovery. He had made it a point to meet every member of the crew over which he would be second in command. It was sweet, professional, considering Captain Lorca never gave two shits about anyone who wasn’t his bridge crew. You were busy setting up your work station in the med bay when you saw him meander his way over to you. He was tall, but compared to you he was a giant, and you had to tilt your head up just to make eye contact with those stunning eyes. He gave you a slight smile, introduced himself, and asked some practiced questions about your position, your history in Starfleet, etc. After you had given your answers and were suitably smitten with his kind eyes and giant, gentle hands, he had moved on to introduce himself to Hugh before you could make that vital first personal connection. You had tried not to look too heartbroken, of course, he was just being polite and was eager to meet everyone on the ship. You never even got a chance to ask him anything about himself, you were just assuming that he would be perfect boyfriend material. How stupid of you. 

But you kept running into each other in the halls and the cafeteria. It seems you made quite an impression on the Kelpien because he always chose to take his meals by your side and, on the extremely rare occasions where he took a day off, he would try to align his breaks with yours. You tried not to get too excited, really, but he ended being just as tender and darling as you had expected after that first meeting. 

And apparently, he thought you were just as enthralling because after all that business with traveling to another universe and ending a war was said and done, he had nervously approached you about joining him for some shore leave in Paris.

“I would love to, my friend,” you had said.

“Oh,” he had mumbled.

“Something wrong?”

“I was hoping we would be going as... more than friends.” It was sweet and corny and you’re pretty sure he got the line from Tilly. But you were elated that you could finally call the Kelpien yours.

But you haven’t had a date night in over a month. Your shifts haven’t been lining up lately. You always seem to have nightly rounds and he is always working during the day, taking nights off at your aggressive insistence. It’s certainly not appropriate for either of you to take some shore leave during an intergalactic crisis. But... your days off haven’t lined up in months either, which is what you find strange. You tried to line them up with his, but at some point in the last month, he just decided not to take any days off at all. It was strange. And hurtful.

At first, you had been angry about it, particularly at Pike for keeping you away from each other and working your boyfriend to the bone. But in the last two weeks, your self-conscious mind started to wander... Maybe he was avoiding you. He was practically a co-captain at this point so he had to have some control over the scheduling. And it’s not like you were dating him for the special. treatment but, you wanted special treatment. You just wanted to spend one night cuddled with your boyfriend, talking to him in person instead of over your PADD or communicators. But the universe didn’t seem to want that for you.

Or maybe he didn’t want that for you.

Tracey had expected you to vent angrily to her about how much you missed your boyfriend like you had every other time. But this time you just sadly shook your head and went back to work. 

“I’m sorry, (Y/N),” she says after a while, trying to coax something, anything from you.

“It’s alright.”

“I’m sure it’s just a run of bad luck, Starfleet bureaucracy and all that--”

“Tracey he is Starfleet bureaucracy.” You take a deep breath, trying to reign in your emotions. “Do you think... Do you think he’s avoiding me?”

“Oh, (Y/N), no. Why would you think that?”

“I just... I don’t know. I just feel like I’m not a priority for him anymore. I’ve tried to rearrange my shifts for him but now he’s just not taking breaks altogether. Do you think I’ve done something wrong?” Tracey gives you a sympathetic look but her eyes tell you that she’s at a loss.

“Let’s get a snack.”

“It’s not my break yet--” She grabs your hand and pulls you out of med bay. 

Tracey plops a hot fudge sundae in front of you. You quietly pick up a spoon and do your very best not to cry into your ice cream. During your walk to the cafeteria, you had quietly told her more about how you were feeling. How much you missed cuddling with him, how you missed spending nights in his quarters surrounded by plants because your bed was too small for him, how you just missed him. 

“He’s a better cuddler than you’d think,” you sadly giggle. Tracey smiles hopefully, but you continue to sniffle and stir your fudge. 

“I don’t know, Trace. Maybe... Maybe he’s just bored with me and he’s too nice to tell me.”

“Oh (Y/N), I’m sure that’s not it.”

“Yeah, well, it’s something. He used to bend over backward to spend time with me and now it’s like I have a plague.” You look down at yourself then back at the sundae then back at your thicker legs and chubby stomach.

“(Y/N) stop,” Tracey knows what you’re thinking before you can even vocalize it. “You’re beautiful. It has nothing to do with that.”

“He used to think so too,” you mumbled. “Y’know, this all started after his vahar’ai. Maybe that changed the way he thinks about me?” You look up at her with watery, helpless eyes. “I just don’t know,” you cry out, right at the moment the doors slide open and in walks in the man of the hour. The minute he walked in, arms swaying and uniform perfectly pressed -- God, he looked great in that uniform, no stop, you’re mad at him -- he spotted you. He beamed his “I’m happy to see you but also I’m at work” smile and strolled over, not yet noticing the red rings around your eyes.

“Good afternoon, Dr. Pollard. (Y/N),” your name is said with such tenderness that you almost forget about your earlier anger and sadness. It’s horrible. You’re in so deep you might as well have drowned in him.

“Good afternoon, Commander,” Tracey says. You open your mouth to respond but the words vanish from your throat and are replaced by a thick, heavy knot. No, no, you should be angry. You should be furious. The man you love and was certain loved you back has been ignoring you and that is not going to fly.

You stand up and maneuver your way out of the cafeteria quickly, before the sobs threatening to leak past lips finally emerge. You miss the completely devastated look on Saru’s face, the way his arms fall meekly to his sides and just dangle there, the wrecked look in his eyes.

You had expected Saru to give you some time alone before coming to find you. But as soon as the doors to your quarters had closed there was a loud banging on them. Not the gentle tone of the doorbell. A banging. Followed by Saru calling out to you. You sniff but tell the computer to open the doors because you’re not quite ready to look at him yet. 

Saru has other plans.

As soon as he is inside and the doors have closed, he is crouched in front of your sniffling form sitting on the bed. Saru very rarely rests on his knees, he likes to be able to rise up and run at a moment’s notice. That was the old Saru, the fear-fueled Saru, your Saru. But you are a little flattered that this is so important to him that he is willing to risk being vulnerable on his knees before you.

“My darling.” His hands reach out to touch you but you shake your head and he stills. His eyes look lost.

“(Y/N), what happened? What can I do?” You furiously wipe at your eyes but the tears keep coming. Between your sniffling, you barely begin to air what has been bothering you this last month.

“I just... I just miss you. And I never get to see you, you’re always so busy and you never take any breaks or days off just for us to be together. And I just... I want to know what happened? If I did something to make you so unhappy, if you’re mad at me or disgusted by me or--” Saru is a kind man but he is not always so outwardly emotional. Emotions make you vulnerable, susceptible for predators to feed upon your every weakness. It too weeks for Saru to fully grow accustomed to the idea that you did not need him to be the big-strong-Kelpien, that you would love some affection and genuineness from him. He is still shy when it comes to initiating kisses and hugs with you, but not today. 

Before you can continue, he has his mouth over yours, trying to pore all the adoration and reverence he has for you into it. One of his hands comes up gently hold your thigh while the other cups the back of your head just under the neck, just where your ganglia would have been had you been Kelpien. He loves having a hand there when you’re cuddling and there have even been a few instances where his hand made its way up to that spot while the ship was in danger. You have yet to verify your theory, but you assume it must be a custom from home, a way of saying, you’re safe with me. 

When you finally separate you are at a loss for words, in part because you are out of breath and also because you don’t quite know what to say. Saru watches your face carefully, scanning your lost eyes for any sign of hatred or abhorrence towards him.

“How could you think that--” he starts to ask.

“How could I think that? Seriously?” You scooch away from him slightly. “You have been ignoring me, you only message me once or twice a day at this point. This is the first time I’ve actually seen you in weeks.” You cross your arms and scowl at him, effectively quelling any possibility for a kiss like that to reoccur -- even though it did knock your socks off.

“I... I...”

“So have you been ignoring me? Or am I crazy and has this all been in my mind and are you about to leave me because of my craziness?”

“I would not leave you for that.” He gives you a small, weak smile. “And... I’m ashamed to admit it but I have been avoiding you.” Your scowl falls, you can’t keep it up anymore. A pathetic sob leaves you and your hand flies up to cover your mouth. 

Saru looks down in shame, unable to look at you in this state. It’s unbearable for him to see you like this, to know that he is the cause, that he had promised to protect you from pain and suffering.

“(Y/N) please, you have to know that it has nothing to do with you.” He desperately wants to hold you, rub circles into your back, sit you on his lap and curl around you.

“Then what is it?” You snap. His eyes are beginning to fill with tears as a hand goes to the back of his neck.

“I’m afraid,” he whimpers. Your eyes widen and you fight with your need to go to and comfort him.

“Of what?”

“I have been going through some changes,” he pauses to gauge your reaction, “You know that. But I have been feeling things I have never felt before. I... I’m more aggressive, more argumentative. I broke a PADD a few days ago because I was annoyed, I didn’t even realize I was doing it.” He avoids your eyes, embarrassed. You hang onto every word.

“I’m becoming a new person. And I was worried that this new person,” he gestures to himself, “Is not someone you want to be with.” Oh. Oh. Oh, Saru.

“I did not mean to worry you or to make you feel as though I don’t love you because I do.” You let him grab your hands and he grips them tightly as if they are his tether to the mortal world. “I love you so, so much. I could not bear the thought of losing you or hurting you or--” It’s your turn to catch him in a kiss. He breathes a long sigh of release through his nose as your lips mold perfectly to his. Your hands wriggle their way out of his and cup his head, a privilege reserved only for you. After a few moments you pull away but your hands remain in place. He holds your right hand to him and leans in, grateful that you are still here, that you still love him.

“Why didn’t you just talk to me?” You give him a weak smile.

“I just needed to know what was going on,” he sighs. “I needed to know that I was safe for you to be around, that I had a handle on myself.”

“Well the next time you need to, you come to me,” you command and give his face a slight pat. “You scared me.” 

Guilt and more tears flood his eyes in an instant. He lurches forward and wraps his arms around you, something he has wanted to do the moment he entered your quarters. You lean your head against his shoulder and a hand comes up to rest behind your neck. His other arm wraps around your waist and gives it a comforting squeeze. He starts to whisper small devotions of love and promises to never keep you in the dark again. You melt against him, loving how secure his long arms make you feel. Tentatively, you move one of your own hands from between your bodies and up to the back of his head. Your fingers grace over the skin at the base of his skull where his neck meets it, gaging his reaction. When he continues to whisper and cuddle, you rest your entire palm there. He stills for a moment but it feels like forever as you wait. Will he push you away? Will he lecture you on the basics of Kelpien etiquette?

He pulls you tighter against him. Really, he’s squeezing you. And nuzzling his nose against the top of your head which is new and delightful and perfect.

“I’m going to request a day off each week,” he whispers.

“Really,” you say in mock disbelief. “A whole day?”

“For you, I would take entire years off.”


End file.
